Z94.5 - Distribution & Marketing

ULTIMATE CONSUMER. One who buys and/or uses goods or services to satisfy personal or household wants rather than for resale or for use in business, institutional, or industrial operations. Comment. The definition distinguishes sharply between Commercial or Industrial Users and Ultimate Consumers. A firm buying and using an office machine, a drum of lubricating oil, or a carload of steel billets is an Industrial User of those products, not an Ultimate Consumer of them. A vital difference exists between the purposes motivating the two types of purchases which in turn results in highly significant differences in buying methods, marketing organization, and selling practices.

UNDIFFERENTIATED MARKETING. A condition in which a firm produces one product and attempts to make it fit all potential markets with a single marketing mix.

UNIVERSAL PRODUCT CODE (UPC). The 10 digit, all-numeric, code for representing grocery products. The first five digits uniquely identify the grocery manufacturer and the last five assigned by the manufacturer to identify his products. It is frequently incorporated into the package by means of a bar code which can be read electronically.

USAGE RATE. The rate at which a product's inventory is consumed or sold per period of time.